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skiathospurs

Well-Known Member

Whilst El Loco is invading Spain,thought I`d jump in and start tomorrow nights thread!!Dont forget Tranmere is scouseland,so beating them is beating part of liverpool!!COYS

Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele returned to training with the squad today. They won't play against Tranmere ,Erik Lamela returned to training after injury yesterday but is now ill. Dier&wanyama in reconditioning/rehab.

Don Diaz

Zero tolerance of Numpty's

Well blimey, what a lovely picture orientated FA Cup thread. Just missing some odds maybe Wolfie knows?? let's not bother asking him, I reckon we're favourites but who knows what team Poch will pick, I bet he does, hope so anyway.

So this has got a giant banana skin stamped on it, Live TV, reasonable side (actually they're not - 9th in league 2, but Newport County and Rochdale were a bit handy in the end),takes on likely weakened Premier League high flyers on a ropey pitch. We'll win though won't we, 2-1 maybe 3-1. Depending on whether Poch picks my team of something a bit stronger. Please no more injuries, especially from some Scouser that's a Personal trainer or a postman during the week.......

(for those paying attention I've changed it a bit because they'll try and kick us off the park..) Bring on Eyoma, KWP and Parrot when we're 3-0 up in the 60th minute. good luck lads, get in and out of there unscathed, fans as well, Birkenhead isn't for the faint hearted on a Friday night.

Dorset

The Voice Of Reason

In 1953* they bagged a draw against us in the FA Cup, 1-1 on the 10th January, when they toddled down to the Lane for the replay two days later we did a Wigan on them, 9-1. Similar thing in the League Cup in 1989, 2 all in Tranmere, 4-0 at the Lane I expect this will be their aim tomorrow and they will not be a pushover.

Don Diaz

Zero tolerance of Numpty's

From the BBC Sport website - Tranmere and the small of Death. What real football is still all about in the lower leagues.

"When I came to the club it had a smell of death around it. You were not sure whether it would survive," says Tranmere Rovers chairman Mark Palios.

It is April 2014 and Palios, a one-time Tranmere midfielder and ex-Football Association chief executive, is back at Prenton Park to catch up with old friends and take in a League One game. He finds his former club deep in the mire, a stench of relegation hanging in the air having just sacked manager Ronnie Moore after he admitted breaking FA betting rules. Meanwhile, Tranmere's accounts were showing debts of around £1.8m. A few days later Palios is driving through France with his lawyer wife, Nicola, when confirmation of the Merseyside club's demise comes through on the car radio - a 2-1 home defeat by Bradford City and results elsewhere sending Tranmere into League Two.

"We were listening to 5 live," Palios tells BBC Sport. "I turned round to Nicky and said 'we'll go down again and then go into administration'. She said 'do something about it'. I knew it would be all-consuming so I said 'I will if you will'."

Palios, 66, and his wife, who is vice-chairman, are now in their fifth season at the helm since taking a controlling interest from outgoing chairman Peter Johnson. It has been far from easy, turning round the fortunes of a club that reached the League Cup final in 2000. Twelve months after falling out of League One, Tranmere were relegated from the Football League for the first time and, as recently as September 2017, were 18th in the National League.

Three seasons in non-league resulted in losses of around £3.5m, yet things are finally looking up for the Birkenhead club. Having earned promotion back to League Two in May - despite playing 89 minutes of last season's National League play-off final with 10 men against Boreham Wood - Tranmere start 2019 pushing for a place in the third tier.

Palios owes them "They allowed me to go to university and they allowed me to be a chartered accountant. "I would never have come back to any club and tried to do what I'm doing now. People still think I'm mad for doing it but there is a sense I owe them a little bit in that regard."

Older Tranmere fans remember Palios for his part in a famous League Cup win over Arsenal in 1973, when they were in the old Division Three.

His 280 appearances during two spells at Tranmere also included a League Cup tie at Manchester United in 1976 and, three years later, Palios was part of the team that held Liverpool in the same competition.

A bronze statue of Johnny King - Tranmere Rovers' most successful manager - was unveiled at Prenton Park in 2014. Prenton Park is just a few miles from Everton and Liverpool, and attracting new fans - in an area of high unemployment and poverty - is an ongoing battle.

Fans and club staff donate money for tickets so disadvantaged children can watch the team play. It has proved such a success that more than 10,000 tickets were distributed around the community in 2016-17. Two of those to benefit from the scheme is a victim of domestic abuse and her 12-year-old son. "He didn't want to spend all weekend in a refuge but would come to the football with her," said Palios. "That's made a massive difference to their lives."

Through the club, fans have also donated food and, over Christmas, toys to local people struggling financially. Meanwhile, the old directors' car park at the ground is now a fan park run by the trust on match days - an indication of the solid relationship between the club and its supporters.

"The money they make comes back into the club," added Palios. "The fans have been a massive part in moving this club forward. "I hate it when people call us owners because I don't actually feel that. The fans are the club."

When Tranmere were in League One in 2014-15 they had 1,800 season ticket holders. This season the figure has doubled to 3,600.

'Moonwalking back to his car' Mark and Nicola Palios are very much 'hands-on' owners.

They live in a house fewer than three miles from the ground and two of their daughters - Sofie and Emma - have roles at Tranmere. A third, Chloe, is also working at Prenton Park while she waits to start a job in London. All three have first-class degrees.

Nicola, 51, is an experienced businesswoman and Palios says: "Nicky and the girls are a good executive team for what we need to get done. "Nicky and I will debate various things. I will take into account her views and sometimes I will change what I'm doing because what she says is the right thing."

Palios, who resigned from his position with the FA in 2004 following stories about his private life, is reluctant to disclose how much money he and his wife have ploughed into Tranmere. "That's personal," he says. However, while his business plan is sustainable for League Two and League One, Palios admits substantial new investment will be needed if the club is to return to the Championship for the first time since 2001.

"There's almost an inability to compete on a level playing field now in the Championship if you are coming out of League One," he adds. "Before we came here the turnover - excluding handouts from the league - was between £1m and £1.5m. Now it's possibly £5m-£7m. "You might get that to £15m in League One and then you go into the Championship and you are suddenly faced with clubs that are on budgets of £170m."

The Tottenham tie is reportedly worth £500,000 to Tranmere and, after victory over Southport in a second-round replay last month, boss Mellon said: "Someone's just said they saw the chairman moonwalking back to his car." So what impact will the money from the tie have on the League Two club?

"Spurs is a big game, not so much from the financial perspective although that will help," said Palios.

"It's almost a statement - we're not quite back to where we were but we are moving along."

Rev John Ripsher

Player in Training.

Mauricio said: “Anything can happen and that’s why we know very well that it’s going to be a tough game against Tranmere. “Last season against Newport and Rochdale, we needed replays at Wembley and those games were so tough. That happens in this competition, the FA Cup. That is why people say it’s magic and after six years in England, I understand why. “We need to be competitive, thinking that we came from a very tough period too and we need to try to pick the best starting 11 to be fresh and compete at our best. “We are going to give rest to some players who need to rest, that’s the plan, because to play four games in 10 days is so difficult and we need to manage some players who have played a lot. This is a game to be right in how we’re going to mix the players to keep our level and perform in the way we want.”

skiathospurs

Well-Known Member

I agree,but should be good enough to win with a solid defence behind it and Son,dele creating.Dier,dembele,wanyama,lamela all out so i am just searching for a way to rest eriksen one game.Yeah its clutching at straws,skipp deserves a chance,cant say the same for georgiou except he has some experience mostly internationally and pre-seasons done ok and this week he has been training with the squad.

Rev John Ripsher

Player in Training.

These games against League 2 opposition are always tough, aren't they? They play a combative tough game and they are battle hardened. I can tell it will be a much tougher game than Cardiff was. Blooding too many kids in one game has always ended badly for us.

Motspur Hotspur

Player in Training.

Something like this I think, Son is off to Asia games anyway so might as well get every minute out of him we can, Foyth can also slot into a back three and seems good enough on the ball to play in front of the back four with some experience behind him. Other than that we are absolutely thread bear in CM so there isn't a lot of rest to be had. I do not want to see Harry Kane anywhere near a football until Tuesday!

skiathospurs

Well-Known Member

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino to BT Sport: "It is going to be very difficult, the FA Cup always forces you to give your best. We cannot talk about levels, all is even. If you don't take the game in the right way it will be a big problem.

"We are aware of the potential of our oppoennet and it is a massive challenge for us to come here and have the same motivation and spirit as them.

"Oliver Skipp has played in the Premier League, we trust in him. He needs time and competitive games. Football is not about excuses, it is about winning."